William Shatner Discovers Heavy Metal at 95

William Shatner has spent decades boldly going where very few actors have gone before. At 95, that apparently includes heavy metal.

Appearing together on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Shatner and country star Brad Paisley look back at the unlikely friendship that eventually turned into their new collaborative album, Love and Other Mysteries.

The pair explain how they first met and gradually began recording together, with Paisley becoming part collaborator, part musical guide as Shatner continued experimenting with genres far removed from what anyone might expect from Captain Kirk.

That curiosity clearly hasn’t slowed down. Shatner tells Kimmel that he has recently developed an appreciation for heavy metal, adding yet another style to a recording career that has already wandered through spoken word, rock, country and everything in between.

Paisley seems considerably less surprised by any of this than Kimmel.

Their conversation also reveals the chemistry behind the project: Paisley approaches the songs as a musician fascinated by Shatner’s distinctive delivery, while Shatner treats music as another place to explore stories, emotion and ideas rather than worrying too much about conventional genre boundaries.

The two also performed “Masks” from Love and Other Mysteries during their Jimmy Kimmel visit.

At an age when most people would probably be narrowing their hobbies down, William Shatner appears to be doing the opposite.

Heavy metal at 95? Honestly, that feels completely on brand.